CATFISH
by Envye
Summary: Rey partakes in the dangers of online dating with her heart full of hope and a burning desire for adventure. But when she finally meets the man of her dreams, is he really who he says he is?
1. Chapter 1

_CATFISH_

 **Chapter One**

* * *

"Don't forget to look for the guy with crocs and sandals—"

"That sounds like a nightmare." Rey snorts softly with a polite and glossed smile. Her lips were coated with a beige Nyx matte lip-gloss. Always the more suitable choice compared to Kylie's matte lip kit. Honestly who would pay thirty Euros for that? When she can get one tube for only seven. Maybe twelve for two on Amazon if she managed to snag one of those early deals.

Enough of that. Rey pauses in her tracks with startling thoughts about her situation as she realizes her online American-boy-friend-to-be was waiting for her on the other side of the pond. Was this reality? Or was this a horrible cliché chic-flick disaster waiting to happen?

Awkwardness rings throughout her body as she wonders what would happen once they meet in person. What would he look like? Is he as tall as he said he was? Did he really own an Audi? Was he really the sweet hearted bookworm he said he was? Was his favorite novel really Jane Eyre?

The pictures of "Kylo" caught her attention in an interesting way and boy was he a twenty-year-old _something_. He was the traditional "Adonis," and something about his pictures made him more attractive the more she stared at them. Was she a weirdo? Probably. But who cares really?

She'll take what wants her.

Rey routinely imagined having a live conversation with this Adonis, leading up to this very day. They never spoke in person, which was strange to say at the very least.

The woman felt timid and would always find an excuse to avoid speaking to him directly no matter how often he suggested it. Maybe she was overtly shy? Maybe she was afraid of being disappointed by the way he sounded?

Who knew?

All they ever did was talk and talk more about their daily adventures. It was more like texting, eye to text and text to eye.

She found herself crinkling her brows when she remembered reading his bio as he said he'd been a discharged officer of the Marine Corps. Loved to rock-climb. Loved cooking. Loved _fencing_. Who does that anymore?

He probably lied about some things too. Right? Doesn't everyone make little white lies? It seemed a bit over-loaded but she felt she had to match him in some way. So some of the things she said such as: swimming with sharks and spontaneous ziplining might have been a stretch.

In the subtler ways, he seemed like her perfect match. They were both adventurous and held an unfading love for stories of the world. They both loved caffeine in a way. Tea for her and coffee for him. Honestly, she didn't care. She'd been functioning like a machine with a cup of expresso running through her system with all the errands she had to finish before she took this mini vacation.

It'd probably run right through her… and it was a problem for another time.

She couldn't wait to talk about the _world_ with him.

"Kidding. I'm kidding." She could tell the voice was quick to take back that statement. "Just trying to lighten the mood. But you never know what could happen, right?"

"If he ends up dressing like that it'll probably be the end of me. _And_ you." Rey feels the cold glass of her iPhone Four glaze against her earlobe to the under-crook of her jawline, "but I trust you. And I want this to go well."

"Yeah? How do you think I feel?"

Rey takes this moment of silence to look around Heathrow. The airport didn't seem as bland as it appeared on the outside. The glass was cast rectangularly as is the shape of the entirety of the facility, but was decorated with wonderfully crafted lighting and ceilings within. The people inside however, were bustling around and struggling to get to their terminals before their planes flew off without them.

"Finn?" Rey calls for the man behind the other line so that they hadn't been disconnected somehow. She wonders if he's still there.

Frantically he interrupts the lingering silence, "oh God what if he ends up being a serial killer? What if he's a human trafficker? What if he's a rapist—"

"Jesus Christ he's not going to rape me. He's not a drug lord or whatever it is that you said—" Her voice is a mindful whisper, low enough for one even at arm's length to not overhear their conversation.

"Slave trafficking! There's a difference and you've got to know that. "

"Yeah and the chances of that happening? Slim? Possibly zero percent? A negative ten percent?" Her voice raises above the murmuring cluster of people that surround her.

"Rey you can't be naïve about this. You saw it yourself! The bloke lives in America. You hear what they say about ' _Merica_?" _America_ had a heavily southern accent applied to it to add a sort of degrading emphasis.

"Honestly it all goes well until you worry and then something bad _does_ happen." Rey huffs audibly through the mic and reiterates mentally with an 'I'll be fine'. "You act like I'm jumping into a warzone."

"Rey come on… did you hear about the shootings? The hate crimes? The violent protests? Chicago on top it. You literally picked the murder capital of the world. Can't get more dangerous than that!"

"Where'd you get that fact? Fox News?"

"That's not even our—"

"Look...I'm going to Michigan Ave. _Giordano's_. I planned for deep-dished pizza with a man I met online and he's paying. You think I'm going to miss that?"

"I don't know. I don't think paying for a six-hundred Euro ticket is worth the trip."

"I thought you said I should live my life _on the wild side_?" Rey accentuates the last of her sentence in Finn's tone of voice. "Weren't you just rooting me on? I haven't had a man in my life in years. You're killing me. You really are Finn."

"Alright. Alright—I'm not here to kill your vibe. Just your stupidity."

"Finn!" A highly-pitched voice, aghast, snaps back at his sheer audacity.

A gruff male sigh is in line, "you know this anxiety likes to waylay."

"If you're _really_ so worried then why not catch the next flight out of here?" Rey squeezes her neck against a shoulder to prevent it from slipping through the space. "You might as well meet me at the restaurant." Her pea-coat was woolen and did a good job at holding most things in place. Especially an itch. She always had an itch on her back that she couldn't reach.

However, one unfortunate accident led to the marring of her cell. Honestly, her black iPhone could use an upgrade and it already had slim cracks spreading like roots from the top right corner and thankfully it didn't reach the touchscreen yet. It never responded to her finger tips and butt dialed her boss whenever it wanted to cause trouble.

Might as well throw the whole thing out right now!

"You know I've got my dissertation to finish and—"

"Exactly. Stay home and complain about your professors. Sip on your chamomile tea. You've got pages to type. Nights to blow over. You have no time to worry about me, alright?"

"Alright. But Rey," Finn's voice pauses for a second, "please be careful. _Potential_ love isn't worth your safety. It isn't worth your life."

"I'm pretty sure I'll be fine." Rey reassures her fretting best friend. Maybe she's never had self-defense classes. Maybe she's never registered for a hand-gun (mainly because it was illegal here), and maybe she's never owned pepper spray (also illegal). But at least she lifts? Going to the gym five days a week counts for something. Right?

" _Pretty sure_ doesn't guarantee anything!"

 _I stirred the sleeping dragon. Mother dragon._

She couldn't help but gesture the irritation to the back of her head.

"I know you're rolling your eyes." Finn's elevated voice drums against her ear, "first thing you do after you meet the guy is call me. Call me the moment you know something's wrong. At least text me you're alright."

"Ahuh." An absentminded voice crawls through but barely reaches the other side. Rey increases her pace the moment her eyes catch the terminal on the flight display system.

 **HEATHROW AIRPORT**

It was a gigantic electronic display of flights to places that varied from Shanghai to Berlin. Her eyes follow the rows of cities until she saw the one that matched her ticket.

 **OHARE-CHICAGO.** Her hazelnut-green orbs follow the row of letters.

 **FLIGHT FN2187 | TIME 16:00 | CHECK IN OPEN | GATE B12 | ON TIME**

Rey glances over at her wrist and her golden _Fossil_ watch ticks at just about three-thirty in the afternoon.

"My flight's boarding in half an hour Finn!" Rey bursts through the cell's mic, which probably made whoever it was on the other line wince.

"Get a move on!" Finn commands as if he is right there beside her. "Be safe!"

"Got it mom."

"You know your mother is always worried about you." Jokingly the voice finishes off.

She adjusts her cell between one ear and shoulder, the opposite purse strap on the other, and pulls out the trapped strands of hair from underneath all in one go. "See you?"

"See ya' girlie." Finn's slightly automated voice blends in with the rest of the crowd of travelers, and as she ended her call, she stuffs her cell into her traveler's purse with a passport in hand.

Rey is amidst a swarm of _someone's_ and all she sees are strangers.

They all have their own untold stories.

They all have their own experiences.

Their own feelings and emotions unique to every individual.

She yet had to add life to the boring story that _Rey_ was.

* * *

 **Not sure if I should continue with this idea. Is this story far out there? Boring? You be the judge *bites nails***


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. I've finished my classes this week, and now I've the entire summer to write :p**

 **Anyway, enjoy! And as always, your words are always appreciated.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

"I can help the next person in line?" Rey rears attention toward the timid voice and tugs her luggage from behind, the check-in desk hidden behind only a few abled bodies. Reaching the front in what she assumed—ten minutes—Rey finds her patience disappearing. An obvious newly-recruit.

She tilts her head aside, annoyed, with a thrumming tap of her heel as the agent verifies her information. She couldn't help with the rolling of her eyes as his keystrokes looked like they went about three words per lifetime.

"Alright Miss, place your luggage on the scale." He intrudes with a wavering shill to his voice, his glasses glare in the sharp lighting of the airport. "Are you familiar with our policies?" The agent politely asks as he hands her photo-ID back with a shaky hand.

"Policies?"

"Well you're allowed one cabin bag and personal companion. Does your luggage weigh twenty-three kilograms?"

"I hope so." She murmurs with a hint of unease ingrained in her movements. Her luggage is laid atop the metallic scale and the beeping numbers held her eyes firm.

 **2 3.9 KG**

"Looks like you're over the—"

"Thanks." Her voice drips with sarcasm as she unzips her cargo, "wouldn't have the slightest clue what those numbers mean."

The agent is silent and compliant. It was probably his first day and she was making it a living hell for him.

 _Damn it_ Rey.

She was one of _those_ customers.

"You know what? I've been such an asshole to you. What's your name?"

The airline agent pauses, obviously, a stuttering mess and a conglomeration of what-do-I-do-next and she's-too-beautiful-to-be-asking-my-name. "Uh… Greg, Miss."

"You've been _great_ help Greg. Would you take this off my hands?"

It is a pink and white self-help book. Wonders of online dating and even more; _Love in 90 Days: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Own True Love._ Hopefully Greg doesn't mind Kirschner, a lovely woman and an amazing poet she is. There's a reason why travelling was on Rey's schedule today, and she couldn't thank her anymore for taking the "home" _out_ of her homebody.

She's a freebody now.

 _Fifteen minutes and I'll be off to a nine hour flight._

 _Then I'm going to see him._

 _Finally._

 _Her heart knocks with intention and her stomach begins to whirl._

"Uh...thanks." The desk attendant Greg grabs the book with an unsure hand and sets it aside the scale. "You're still half a kilo from meeting the weight limit, Miss."

Rey sighs brazenly, impatience lingering on her features. "What do you mean? It's not enough?" The traveler calms down as she realizes how she'd been acting immature and snobbish. Maybe it was the anxiety that made her feel so irritable?

"Right. Right. Sorry." She unzips the black suitcase and snakes out a generic tee shirt (it wasn't worth 115 pounds) and hopes that does just about everything. "Good?" She waits as the numbers readjust themselves.

He nods and places the cabin sticker on her luggage. She nods at the attendant with confirmation and grabs the necessaries, eager that he reads the book at some point in his life.

….

The moment she enters her plane terminal, she takes a long first whiff of the new land and it smells like a mixture of coffee and junk foods, with a hint of machinery fuel.

"Well, America. Here I am." She heaves the anxiety out of her chest and gives O'Hare a good look-around.

Through the stainless windows that constructed the ceiling, she could see the rustic colors of dusk swimming in the sky. American flags were strewn proud fully along the rafters along with other nations. People rush along, alone or tightly-knit families and seek to find bus shelters and cabs.

The passengers arriving with her from her flight looked exhausted, bloodshot and awaiting a bed to crawl into. But not her—oh not her. She had a date to make.

Her cell displays the same seasonal lock screen throughout the entire flight and yet… Rey checks it again. No messages. She waits impatiently for her luggage to roll around the metallic carousel, her heart thumping painfully again. The need of having to find it as soon as possible has her shot to pieces.

Rey, trembling on her toes, has her device on hand to reply as soon as he decides to relay a message. She said she'd be in the States by nine. Was he confused? Why wasn't he saying anything?

 _Bzzzz Bzzzz_

Rey's chest jumps momentarily and unlocks her phone within a split second. It's Kylo.

 _Finally._

" _Hey sweetheart. Sorry for the late reply!"_

Each message block was sent individually and she curls her lips. He double-messages with no shame. She waits a bit before replying, even though she's on a desperate time crunch to meet him.

" _It's alright :)._ " Rey looks around her immediate zone and dumbs her smile down, no one needs to know her business. " _I'm here. Where do I go now? I'm lost_."

She waits about three minutes for a reply. What was taking him so long?

" _Yeah…about that._ "

Her heart jumps again. Not the kind that happens after love at first sight, but the kind when your boss asks to talk with you; the kind where you know bad news is coming your way.

" _Yeah?_ " She texts immediately. The screen blares in her eyes, feeling as though dark under-circles were dissolving her concealer.

"…"

Hurry the fuck up and tell me _,_ Rey purses her lips all the meanwhile. The anxiety forces the woman to find a nearby bench and rest, she couldn't balance an exhausted body and mind at the same time. Not like this.

" _I can't make that date tonight_."

She forces herself to breathe while reading that sentence repeatedly. " _What? Why? I just got off the airplane?_ "

" _Sorry._ "

" _Sorry? Can't we go tomorrow if tonight doesn't work? Maybe another day?_ " Rey's hazel eyes are unblinking and she waits a minute before locking her phone again. Something inside loses its weight, akin to the feeling of watching her own dignity fly away and disappear.

She found herself erasing the next sentence faster than she can text it.

She opens the conversation again.

 _Read 9:53 pm._

Rey can't believe her eyes—he left her _just_ like that, with a few and simple exchange of words. An apology sure, but no explanations or further reason. All to be left in the lurch. Rey's ponytail is in disarray against the metal ridges of the bench, as she rests her head against the base of her palm. Her eyelids are droopy as she stares at her phone.

She doesn't know what to think.

Her makeup feels as though it was melting under the light, and she'd fall asleep if it weren't for the fact that she didn't have a home to sleep in. Or even less—an actual bed.

She was hoping to sleep in his—

 _Never mind that now._

People don't question the lone woman as they stroll by with their gravelling suitcases, all chatting about on their phones. They don't understand her situation. The turmoil she's going through, _right now_.

The harsh fluorescent lighting doesn't do any favors for Rey, generating an unnecessary headache.

Time passes quickly for Rey as she rolls her around on the bench, thinking about what she else could have said. It's uncomfortable, but right now, this is the lesser evil. Maybe he was playing a joke on her and was going to surprise her here? At the airport? If that were the case, he'd have come long ago and dare she say not two hours late.

It's almost midnight now.

The O'Hare's suspended clock enraptures her attention. The long needle ticks for every lasting minute and she continues to feel pain burning in her chest. In her wasted smiles. In her useless hopes.

 _Is this man even real?_

She feels like a lightyear away from home, and now that she used most of her savings, there's no way to get back.


End file.
